Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao Warns Users Of SMS Phishing Scam

CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zao has alerted users about a massive SMS phishing scam that is targeted towards Binance users. The scam of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange platform is redirecting users to a malicious website to harvest credentials.

Changpeng Zhao tweeted on Friday There is a massive Phishing scam via SMS with a link to cancel withdrawals. It leads to a phishing website to harvest your credential as in the screenshot below. NEVER click on links from SMS!

The tweet also urged users to always go to the Binance website via a bookmark or by typing it in on the browser. This way Binance users could protect their credentials.

Is The Phishing Scam Only Targeting Binance Users?

Changpeng Zhao’s tweet is comprised of a screenshot, which is in a form of a text message which happens to be targeting the users of Binance. The source of the text message simulates that it comes from the exchange but carries a fraudulent link.

Upon clicking it, users will be directed to a phishing website. This website will then proceed to harvest the credentials of the users to swindle off their funds.

Further, the screenshot displayed that the message will contain a withdrawal request from a deceptive IP address. Once a user clicks on the link, it will take the user through a few steps which will help cancel the withdrawal request.

There is a massive Phishing scam via SMS with a link to cancel withdrawals. It leads to a phishing website to harvest your credential as in the screenshot below.

NEVER click on links from SMS!

Always go to https://t.co/9rMMAmtCxH via a bookmark or type it in.

Stay #SAFU pic.twitter.com/erNwe90FN1

— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) February 4, 2022

However, once the link is clicked on, users will be ripped-off as their credentials will be captured by the fraudulent website.

It is still unclear if this form of phishing is only targeted towards Binance users, from what’s known, they are the only ones affected. It is certain that other platforms are also on the target list. The number of Binance users who have been a victim of the recent phishing scam hasn’t been reported or disclosed.

Continued Scams With No End In Sight

The cryptocurrency space has been consistently witnessing different forms of fraudulent practices. From rug pulling to the recent scare tactics, this space has been bombarded with scams every now and then. Recently $34 million was wiped off from Crypto.com users on January 17.

The most recent Wormhole bridge hack which links Solana and Ethereum suffered a gigantic loss of $320 million from the protocol.

This attack that took place on Wednesday, marks the second-largest security breach in the decentralized finance sector.

The largest scam in the De-Fi space happened last year on Poly Network when $600 million was drained out of the protocol. Recent warnings were also issued against attackers targeting browser plugin wallets such as Coinbase and MetaMask.